Friday, 6 September 2013

Beaulieu - Great fun for kids

Last week when we stayed in the New Forest we were lucky
enough to be offered a family ticket to visit and review Beaulieu. I recalled going to the motor
museum as a child and I have to say that my memory from the 27 odd years ago
was that it was OK but nothing special for a girl. Happy to be proved otherwise
my family headed there mid-week in the school holidays. Our party consisted of
three children (6 year old girl twins and near 10 year old boy), my Husband and
I and my Mum, so there was a wide range of ages to test out Beaulieu.

How was it?

I won’t keep you in suspense, we did have a lovely time and
it is a place that you can easily spend a full day, or even more if you have a
particular interest in the motor industry or living history. I was highly
impressed to see on our receipt that we could have gone to customer services
and swapped our receipt for a free return visit for us all within the next 6
days. How fabulous is that? Basically you are receive two days entry for your
one payment. If we had paid for our visit it would have cost us £49.50 for a
family of 5 (when booked online in advance) which I think is very good
considering there is enough to do to be a full day’s entertainment.

Beaulieu was easy to find and well signed, there was a mass
of free car parking and we did not have to walk that far to gain entry. The
queues to get in moved quickly and the staff were friendly and efficient, from
the start it all looked very nice and well kept.

Top Gear Exhibition

Our first stop was the World of Top Gear exhibition and JJ
and my Mum loved this. I’ve never watched Top Gear before to be honest but I
got a flavour when I watched the 15 minute show in the Enormodrome and it looks
great fun. There are loads of the cars used on the show and I imagine if you
are a die-hard fan this would be awesome for you as it was good for someone
clueless like me!

The Motor Museum

The indoor museum is as you would expect, there are an
abundance of motoring exhibits and lots to see. Not just cars but bikes, motorbikes,
fire engines, caravans, campers etc are all on display and in such beautiful
condition. My girls enjoyed sitting in an old fashioned London bus and watching
a short film and JJ thought the Ford Wheels ride that took us through the
history of motoring was epic, in fact he announced he could sit on it all day!

If cars are your thing then there is loads of information
available with history about each exhibit and there are quite a few hands on
areas where the kids can learn a bit more in a way that engages them. Miss E
was amazed to find out that her croc shoes were made from old rubber tyres! You
can also take part in the daily tours of the museum and learn from the experts.

Probably my favourite part of the museum was reading about the
cars which attempted the land speed records, the Sunbeam and Bluebird are both
on display and it does feel very special to be standing next to something that
cost so much in its time and created history.

Within the museum is the excellent Bond in Motion
exhibition, this covers vehicles and other modes of transport such as the crocodile
used by Roger Moore in Octopussy. If Bond is your thing then you are bound to
be interested in these 50 different vehicles that are all genuine from the
films. The area looks very slick hidden behind frosted glass and the cars are beautiful
and you can imagine Bond behind the wheel.

Palace House and
gardens

I knew there was a house at Beaulieu but I had not realised
that we could access it and have a look around. This was probably the first
time my girls had seen a staged house and they were really interested in
chatting about all the ‘call bells’ and the enormous dining table. We got to
listen to a duet singing and playing the piano and you can of course talk to
the characters who act as living history and will tell you what life in 1880 is
like.

Outside the house a car draws up regularly and picks up various
staff and guests and you can sit in the car for a photo or chat to the staff
and learn a little more about how we used to live. Then on the lawn where some
Victorian games for adults and kids alike. We are a family who like a bit of
old fashioned fun so we were happy to play hoopla, noughts and crosses,
solitaire, Sudoku and do a bit of skipping. My Mum was very proud to be able to
solve the Sudoku.

We walked back up to the museum via the Victorian kitchen
garden and enjoyed a chat with one of the gardeners learning why they plant
sweet peas and dahlias near to the vegetables (to attract good insects such as
ladybirds in case you are interested!).

Beaulieu Abbey

The ruins of the Abbey and the parish church of Beaulieu are
beautiful. If Religious artefacts and places are your thing then you will enjoy
it here. You can feel the peace as you walk around and of course you can explore
the exhibition about how the monks used to live.

During the summer there are Falconry displays three times a
day and the birds of prey on display there are awe inspiring. Their handler is
a really nice guy and very happy to talk between shows and fill you in on a bit
about how the birds live.

For the kids

With three under 10’s in tow it was important to us that
there was enough to occupy and entertain the kids and we need not have worried.
They all had a great time and we went home after a solid 7 hours with aching
feet and boggling minds. As well as everything listed above there is also a
kids play area, this is advertised as being for under 5’s but all my kids
enjoyed it, especially the mini-bus which they pretended was an ice cream
salon. My girls were also able to ride the electric mini-cars for free and
these were a big hit.

Miss M loved the monorail and managed to convince my husband
to ride it a few times, it is nice that it goes through the museum and you get
to see the cars from a totally new perspective.

Miss E would not let us go home until we had ridden on the
old fashioned Beaulieu bus, this was a nice round the park tour on a warm day
and we all enjoyed this. The great thing was that we only had to wait 10
minutes for the bus and about 5 minutes for the monorail. Queues do not appear
to be an issue at Beaulieu which is a massive plus point.

Every school holidayBeaulieu lay on fun for the kids and often theme the park to match the
occasion. This summer it was about the Living history and we had to spot lots of
characters and play the lawn games. October half-term it is of course Hauntings
with spooky activities for all.

Catering facilities

As we entered the grounds our first sight was the Brabazon restaurant
and it was nice to see so much outside dining space with parasols, the calibre of
the furnishings is high and you can comfortably enjoy coffee and a slice of
cake. We did not lunch in the restaurant but the food there looked really god quality
and talking to one of the gardeners we learnt that much of the produce is grown
on the Beaulieu estate. The prices were as I’d expect with homemade soup and
roll retailing for £4.25, a jacket potato with one filling at £4.75 and kids
meals including a drink £4.50. If you want something more filling then main
courses seem to be between £6.95 and £8.50 but as I mentioned before the quality
looked really good. It is not your average theme park fast food here.

We enjoyed some ice creams while at Beaulieu and these were
on the expensive side, a child’s milk lolly started at £1.20 and a magnum style
lolly was £2.20. I was also a bit dismayed to hear that the whole site had run
out of still water due to a busy weekend. Thankfully they were happy to give
out free water on request.

In conclusion

Beaulieu is a fun day out for all ages. It is beautifully
presented, there is an abundance of space for picnics and your kids to run
around. Once you are in you do not need to spend any more money but if you
choose to eat here it looks like you are in for a treat. There is also a
marvellous large gift shop with reasonably priced trinkets (my kids bought a £1
keyring each).

The variety of attractions at Beaulieu is vast and I think
they have really worked hard to ensure that they deliver an experience that
meets their strapline of ‘much more than a motor museum’.

Well done Beaulieu,
our family is happy to give you 10/10 and we will be back!

Disclosure: We were provided with free entry for the six of us for the purposes of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

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